There comes a time in every inter-county hurler’s life when the long journeys, the winter training sessions and the endless demands of the blue and gold must finally give way to something resembling ordinary life. For Séamus Kennedy, that time has arrived.
The St Mary’s Clonmel man announced on Tuesday morning that, after 11 years representing Tipperary, he is calling time on his inter-county career.
And what a journey it has been.
There have been All-Ireland triumphs, great days in Thurles and Croke Park, difficult afternoons, injuries and the sort of friendships that survive long after the final whistle.
Kennedy was never a man who needed to make a great fuss about himself. He simply went about his business, an honest, dependable hurler who understood that wearing the Tipperary jersey was a privilege rather than an entitlement.
His retirement statement was characteristically generous, thanking everyone from teammates and managers to the teachers who helped him along the way.
There were special words for his parents, Terence and Frances, his siblings Méabh and Seán, and his wife Orlaith, whose sacrifices helped make the journey possible.
And so, after 11 years, the Tipperary jersey is folded away, the long journeys are over and the winter evenings can belong to somebody else.
But Kennedy is not finished with hurling. There is still the small matter of St Mary’s Clonmel, a club enjoying one of the most remarkable chapters in its history, and a captain who remains very much at the heart of it.
Perhaps that is the nicest part of the story. The county career may be over, but the hurling goes on, closer to home, among the people who knew him long before the rest of Tipperary learned his name.
And when the story of this particular generation of Tipperary hurlers is told, Séamus Kennedy will have earned his place in it.